(Bloomberg) -- Japan's ambitious climate pledge could result in a $1.8 trillion windfall for the nation's economy by 2050.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 will require various industries to change their business models, and may prompt vast investments to cleanup supply chains and develop innovative technologies, a government report said Friday. The annual economic impact of these decisions could reach 90 trillion yen in 2030, and 190 trillion yen ($1.8 billion) in 2050, the report found.
Still, Japan has a long way to go before it can count on reaping the benefits of going green. While Japan's carbon emissions have been on a downward trend, they will need to fall faster to meet the goal within three decades, according to BloombergNEF analysis.
The government report also included the nation's so-called green strategy, providing the first glimpse at the broad policies Japan plans to adopt in order to achieve the 2050 pledge.
One of the overarching strategies to lower emissions will be to electrify sectors such as transportation and heating. This could boost Japan's power demand by as much as 50% to 2050, when more than half of electricity will be generated by reneweables, the report said.
The report outlined over a dozen general targets including:
| Area | Target |
|---|---|
| Offshore Wind | Expand capacity to 45 gigawatts by 2040 |
| Ammonia | Dilute fossil fuels by 20% at all thermal power plants by 2030 |
| Hydrogen | Boost total consumption to 20 million tons by 2050 |
| Nuclear | Develop new types of reactors |
| Automotive | Ban gasoline-only cars by mid-2030s |
| Semiconductors | Halving electricity consumption by power semiconductors by 2030 |
| Shipping | Replace fuel with hydrogen or other carbon-free alternatives by 2050 |
| Logistics | Decarbonize operations at ports |
| Agriculture | Reduce emissions to zero |
| Aviation | Electrify airplanes and develop cleaner fuels |
| Carbon recycling | Reduce costs |
| Real estate | Achieve net-zero emissions for new projects by 2030 |
| Regional businesses | Promote carbon footprint reduction |
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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